Gijotoole Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 So I finally got a list of stuff I needed and found a trusty vendor to ship that stuff to Germany (thanks, Mr Coe) and got to work. I used a 9.5" "simple human" type stainless can for the body. I removed all of the plastic hardware and stuffed it with 2" of ceramic blanket before giving it about .5" of kastolite 3k. I then finished it off with a wash of Matrikote after the kastolite sat for about a day or so. I'll fire it up tomorrow for abut to see what happens. Hopefully it won't spall or crack too much. I had a hair dryer on it and sat it in front of a radiator to get the extra water out. The chamber comes out to about 300 cu in, so the mod sidearm from Zoeller should do it. I put the burner closer to the front and turned the kid into a drawbridge-type door in the back, with wool and kastolite. When it closes, the extra unsealed wool helps to fill the void-keeping the heat in. Of course, all the pics are sideways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I'm so happy you've overcome the hassles in your way. Good for YOU! If you hang a light bulb in it, it'll really help it dry. Fire it gently the first time, bring it to red and shut it down, let it cool and fire it to orange and a little longer. Then let it rip, she'll be good to go. You've put a big happy smile on my face. You've really worked to get this forge and haven't quit. I REALLY admire that in a man and am proud you're one of ours. Now all you need is a snappy web handle. <wink> Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gijotoole Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Here's an almost-finished shot of the drawbridge kid... Lid. I meant lid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gijotoole Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Aaaaaallllllrrrighty then... I got Gretchen up and running tonight for her first heat. There was quite a bit of steam blowing out the unsealed back - glad I left that untreated. I got it up to red, then cooled off so I could stick my hand inside, then up to orange and now it's off for the night and blocked up with bricks on the front. I noticed a small crack on the top center of the opening, so I'll patch that up if it gets ugly. Tomorrow I'll try for a white heat to see if I can weld with this setup. It took 8 minutes at 5 psi to get a glowing orange out of a 9/16" bar of mild steel. I'll really get it going tomorrow, depending on what damage I see tomorrow. I'm a bit apprehensive about thermal cycling and my inexperience. For my rookie happiness: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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